Some stuff are just better when served cold.  Ice cream. Sushi. Revenge.

There was a joke somewhere in there, linking cold stuff to freezing credit reports, but if you’re reading up on credit freeze because of identity theft problems, the last thing you’d probably want is a lame joke from an online financial nerd.

Fair enough. Here’s a complete breakdown on credit freeze, links to the major credit reporting agency (credit bureau) so you can request a freeze, and links to the fees for freezing your credit reports.

What’s a Credit Freeze?

A credit freeze (also known as a credit report freeze, credit lock down, credit report lock down, or a security freeze) is a way for you to prevent  access to your credit file by anyone (that includes you).   A credit freeze prevents reputable creditors from accessing your credit file, thereby preventing anyone from opening a new account, because the creditor will need to first check your credit report and score before being able to issue you credit.  Because of the way it prevents access to your credit report, a credit freeze is often the best way to stop an identity thief from opening new credit accounts in your name.

What a Credit Freeze Doesn’t Do

Unfortunately, a credit freeze does not prevent an identity thief from using your existing accounts, your existing personal information, or open non-credit checking accounts. Despite this, if you are a victim of identity theft, it is most likely prudent for you to request a credit freeze with the three major credit reporting agencies, as this will limit the damage to your existing accounts.

When Should You Request a Credit Freeze?

If you suspect an identity theft, or that you may be a target of identity theft (lost of personal mail, stolen wallet, stolen statements, etc.), you may want to consider a credit freeze depending on the type of personal information you think may have been compromised.  If your social security number has been stolen or there are evidence of misuse, a credit freeze is probably a good idea.  If your name, address, or phone number has been exposed due to stolen mail or a security breach by an organization, then you might want to consider setting up a fraud alert on your credit report.  A fraud alert differs from a credit freeze in that it does not prevent access to your credit report, but it does notify potential credit issuers to verify your identification before extending you credit.

How To Freeze Your Credit Report

Freezing your credit report can be done by a request to each of the three major credit reporting agency.  47 states and the District of Columbia has enacted laws requiring credit bureau to allow consumers to enable credit freeze.  Although the state of Alabama, Michigan, and Missouri do not have credit freeze laws, the three major credit bureaus have voluntary offered the credit freeze program to residents of those states.

The fees involved in freezing your credit report will vary by state, and is free in any state for an identity theft victim.  In some states, you may be required to submit documentation to waive the fee, such as a police report or identity theft report by a government agency. The fee ranges in $5 to $10 for non-victims, and may cost additional fees when you want to temporarily lift the freeze, or completely remove the freeze.   Check the links below to see the rates for each credit bureaus and your respective state.

Requesting a Credit Freeze with Equifax

Credit freeze page: (Equifax Security Freeze FAQ)
Fees: $5 ~ $10  (Complete fee rate table for all states)

Unfortunately, the only way to request a credit freeze with Equifax is by written request.

Your request should include:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Date of Birth
4. Social Security Number
5. Proof of current address (e.g., utility bill)
6. Payment of fees by check or credit card.

Mail the request by certified mail to:

Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, Georgia 30348

Remember that if you are a victim of an identity theft, to waive the fee associated with placing a credit freeze, you will need to provide documentation such as a copy of the police report or other related government agency report (DMV) that can verify the identity theft.  Once Equifax has received your request and placed the credit freeze, you will receive a confirmation letter from Equifax with a 10 digit security freeze confirmation number.  You will need this number to lift or remove your credit freeze, so keep it in a safe place.

Requesting a Credit Freeze with Experian

Credit freeze request: (Experian Security Freeze Center)
Fees: $5 ~ $10 (Freeze request page to see rates for all states)

You can request a credit freeze with Experian by visiting the Experian Security Freeze Center linked above, and then click on the link “add a security freeze.” Simply follow the instruction to complete your credit report freeze request.

To submit a written request, include the following information:

1. Your full name, including middle initial and generation (such as JR. SR. II, III, etc.)
2. Social Security Number
3. Date of Birth (month, date, and year)
4. Current address and previous address for the past two years
5. The fee payment for your request (depending on your state, check link above)
6. A copy of a government issued identification card (drivers license, state ID, etc.)
7. A copy of a utility bill or insurance statement

Mail the request to:

Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013

Once Experian has placed your security freeze, you will receive a personal identification number (PIN), that you can use in order to temporarily lift, or remove the credit freeze permanately. You can lift or remove the credit freeze by visiting the Experian Security Freeze Center linked above, or call 1-888-397-3742 (1-888-EXPERIAN). The fee to remove your security freeze will depend on the state you’re located in.  If you’re requesting the removal of the credit freeze by mail, include your identification information and the PIN.

Requesting a Credit Freeze with TransUnion

Credit freeze request: (TransUnion State Security Freeze)
Fees: Free online until 7/14/2009 (Security freeze fee rate table for all states)

You can request a credit freeze with TransUnion by using the TransUnion State Security Freeze linked above.  Requesting a security freeze is free online until July 14, 2009 (in two weeks as of writing).  Click on the “first time here” button to initiate your request, or if you already have an account with TransUnion, use your original login information to start the request process.

To request your credit freeze by mail, include the follow:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Social Security Number
4. Fee payment (check rate table linked above)
5. Proof of current residence such as a state issued ID or drivers license

Mail the request to:

TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

You can also make a request via overnight mail to:

TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
1561 E. Orangethorpe Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92831

You can also request the credit freeze with TransUnion by phone.  Call 1-888-909-8872 and use the interactive voice response system.  Have your Social Security Number, address, date of birth, and payment method for the fee ready.  Be prepare to select your own 6-digit PIN for future security freeze related transaction (lifting or removing your freeze).  When you request the freeze by online or mail, you’ll also receive a PIN from TransUnion so you can temporarily lift or remove your credit freeze.

As with the other credit bureaus, if you are a victim of identity theft, you can have the fee waived if you submit a copy of a valid identity theft report, a DMV vehicles investigation report, or similar proof that you have been a victim of identity theft.  If you’re a resident of North Dakota, you can fax your request with your identity theft document to 1-714-525-0668, Attention: Security Freeze Request.

photo credit: wondermonkey2k

Yeah grows on tree my ass.

If you like to waste money by being stupid, forgetful, and lazy, here’s five ways to do it.

DMV Registration Late Fee – $39

Why pay your car registration on-time? Live life “dangerously” by delaying your smog check and car registration. If you hold out long enough, the penalty fee along with your chance of getting car impounded increases exponentially!

Fix-It Ticket from Expired Registration – $10

If registering your car late isn’t cool enough, try driving around a busy city with expired registration tags, you’re bound to get noticed by a police officer or two — especially once they run your plate and realize your car is registered from a county 400 miles away!

Street Cleaning Parking Ticket – $50

Pulled over by popo too exciting for you?  Just ignore NO PARKING signs or assume that the street you parked on is a-okay. For extra cool points, get yourself pull over along with a parking ticket within the span of 3 hours — Lord knows someone was able to pull that off.

Balance Transfer Snafu Finance Charges – $161

If you think using 0% APR offers and credit card arbitrate is cool, try taking advantage of 18 months offers when credit was abundant (circa 2007) and ignore/forget when your balance transfer promotion ends. From 0% to 14.95% on a $13,000 balance? Super cool.

Overdue Fees for Library Books – $16

For the less adventurous types, overdue fees from returning library books  late is the perfect way to rack up dollars in stupid tax.  Score bonus points by bringing books with you while on vacation abroad and neglecting to renew the books ONLINE — because we all know that extra convenience factor the library added for you is just for show.

Got other ways to waste money that wasn’t listed here? Maybe something your brother’s friend’s cousin did? Sharing (anonymously) is caring.

Ever since Experian and Fair Isaac stopped offering an Experian based FICO score to consumers, I’ve had a large, unfulfilled hole in my life. The woe and despair that I felt was equivalent to having my dinner stolen from me after spending a good hour preparing and making omurice.

Thankfully, the good folks at Quizzle.com came to the rescue, pulling me from the depths of depression, providing me hope and courage to make another Japanese dish for dinner.

Quizzle.com is a free web service from Quicken Loans (formerly Rock Financial Corporation) that provides you with a free credit report, score, home value and budgeting tools.  I’ve wrote a review on Quizzle.com about 7 months ago, and in that review, I went over most aspect of the service.  If you’re interested, check the review out.

What I neglected to mention in the review was that Quizzle provides you with a free credit report and score every six months and that the credit report and credit score is based on your Experian report.  So for those of us that are looking for a free source to get an Experian-based credit score, Quizzle.com is the perfect place to visit.

I logged into my Quizzle.com account today and was greeted with a friendly message, informing me that I’m eligible to receive a new, FREE credit report and score. Yay to me!

(click to enlarge)

As I proceed along to request for my free report and score, an update from Quizzle informs me that they have changed the credit score model they’re using to align more closely with other scores on the market, and are now providing users with Experian’s National Equivalency Score with a 360-840 scale (previously, the old scoring model uses a 300-900 scale).

This is probably a good move since it weeds out any possible confusion to the already complicated world of credit scoring (there are many different models and formulation from each of the major credit reporting agency, not to mention FICO credit scores from Fair Isaac).

Once you click on the continue and confirmation button, you’ll be presented with your free, Experian-based credit report and score:

(click to enlarge)

The score is, as mentioned, on a scale of 360-840, and Quizzle will provide you with both a lettering grade and a percentage grade. If you click on “How is this grade calculated?” — Quizzle will list the factors involved in computing your credit score.

The credit report is simple to digest, and you should be able to quickly read it if you’ve requested and viewed a credit report before.  The version Quizzle provides you with is a bit stripped down compared to others (for example, it doesn’t show previous balances and previous payment history), but it does give enough to let you know what open/closed accounts are on your credit report, and what your current reported balance are along with current payment timeliness.

Clicking over to the credit inquiries tab will show you the latest hard credit inquiries on your Experian report. Remember that checking your credit report or score will not be counted as an hard inquiry, and will not affect your credit scores.

Overall, Quizzle’s free credit report and score functions exactly as promised, and having another alternative to receive a bi-annual free report and score is definitely a welcoming move in a time where keeping on top of your financial health is of utmost importance.

If you’re not comfortable with using a third-party website to receive your credit report and score, you should know that Quizzle.com, as noted above, is provided by Quicken Loans, one of the largest online retail mortgage lender in the nation, having provided mortgage lending services for nearly 25 years — so it’s not exactly a fly-by-night company looking to sell your personal information.

Some may wonder if its redundant to pass legislation that’s similar to regulation already imposed by banking regulators, but regardless, the newly minted Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 has been signed into law.

Here’s the breakdown on the changes when the law comes into effect February 2010.

Consumer Protection

• Retroactive interest rate increase are banned except when a cardholder is more than 60 days late paying a credit card bill.
• Credit card issuer must review the cardholder’s account six months after increasing the interest rate, and return the APR to the previous lower level if the cardholder has been on-time with payment.
• Interest rate cannot be increased within the first 12 months, and promotional rates must have a minimum of 6 months in duration.
• Advance notice of 45 days prior to significant changes in credit card terms: this includes the benefits and reward structure of a credit card.
• The practice of universal default and double-cycle billing are no longer allowed.
• Over credit limit fees are now prohibited unless consumers specifically agree to allow transaction to go through instead of being denied.
• Bills must be sent out no later than 21 days before the due date.
• Payments cardholder makes must be credited as on-time if the payment is received by 5 P.M. on the due date.

Enhanced Consumer Disclosures

• Clear disclosure on how long it would take to pay off a credit card balance if cardholder makes only the minimum payment each month.
• Clear disclosure on the total cost in interest and principal payments if a cardholder makes only the minimum payment each month.
• Late payment deadline and postmark date are required to be clearly shown and disclosed to cardholders.

Protection of Young Consumers

• Credit cards cannot be issued to people under the age of 21 unless they have an adult co-signer or show proof that they have the means to repay the debt (proof of reasonable income).
• College students will be required to receive permission from parents or guardians in order to increase credit limit on joint accounts they hold with those adults.
• People under the age of 21 will now be protected from pre-screened credit card offers unless they specifically opt-in for offers.

Gift Cards

• Gift cards are now required to remain active for at least five years from the day of their activation.
• Dormancy or inactivity fees on gift cards can no longer be imposed unless there have been no activity in a 12-month period.
• Dormancy or inactivity fees must be clearly disclosed to gift card buyers.
• If the gift card expires after 5 years, the terms of expiration needs to be clearly disclosed to gift card buyers.

Effective Date

• The majority of the new rules will be taken into effect 9 months after the signing of the bill, which puts the effective date on Feburary 2010.
• The rule on 45 days advance notice of major changes in account terms will take effect 90 days after the bill’s enactment, beginning September 2009.

Half a decade ago when I was 19, I was sitting in a hospital waiting room as a family member underwent a medical procedure.

Spying a cute girl of similar age across the room, I proceeded to try and “look smart” by picking up the local newspaper so I can pretend to read it — but of course my real intention at the time was to have an easier means to take the occasional peek at the cute girl.

Ah. The shaping of a future creepy stalker. I’m not sure why I added this story to the post, but, there it is.

What really caught my eyes that day though was a story in the local newspaper about “killer” medical bills – medical billing errors that were so drastic that it affected the entire financial well-being of a family.  Apparently, a fat-finger mishap occurred where the hospital billing department mistakenly typed in the wrong billing code for the procedure done in the hospital, and the minor clerical error resulted in a fatigue-inducing, long drawn-out battle with the hospital over the medical bill.

According to a Medical Billing Advocates of America, 80% of the medical bills contain errors in them. Occasionally the problem get more confounded by confusing Explanation of Benefits from insurer and hospital summary bill that’s lacking in details.  Coupled with these and many other factors, it’s little wonder there’s an entire industry out there dedicated to helping consumers deal with medical billing errors, overcharges, and underpayment by insurance companies.

Because of the high percentage in probability of errors, you should always request an itemized bill from the hospital and compare it closely with your EOB from the insurance company before you pay your bill.  If you spot anything that you have questions about, take the time and contact your insurance company or the hospital/physician’s billing office.

Common medical bill errors as listed by Consumer Reports:

• Duplicate fees for tests and procedures.
• Incorrect date of service – nothing beats being charged for a room on the day you weren’t even there.
• Inflated room charges for incidental items such as sheets and towels (these should already be included in the room charge).
• Human errors – as mentioned above, a mistaken keystroke could result in the wrong billing code.

If you’re in a situation where you can’t seem to resolve a medical billing dispute with your insurer or hospital, you might want to consider outside help from a billing advocate, though you should be aware that billing advocates usually charge an hourly fee plus a percentage of any savings.

With the potential of errors that can cost thousands of dollars, scrutinizing your bill should always be a requirement.  When I told my family about the story I read in the paper, we went through our medical bill carefully when it arrived and thankfully it was without errors.  My family, of course, promptly asked me what business I had reading the paper, to which I responded defensively with a long exposition on how I love to read and seek knowledge.  I’m not sure why they didn’t believe me.

photo credit: Alice Chaos

The online discount broker ShareBuilder currently has a sign-up bonus promotion for Costco members.  ShareBuilder encourages recurring monthly investment, dollar cost averaging, and the general idea of building your investment for the future — because of that, it wasn’t much of a surprise when ING Direct decided to purchase ShareBuilder a few years ago.

The promotion is simple. You get a $90 account bonus if you’re a Costco Executive member along with a 25% transaction charge rebate, or you’ll receive a $70 account bonus with a 10% transaction charge rebate if you’re a Costco Gold Star and Business member.

Sign-up Bonus Requirement:

1. Visit the ShareBuilder/Costco sign-up page to register for an account.
2. You must be a current Costco member with a valid Costco membership number.
3. Bonus will be deposited into account 6-8 weeks after first stock purchase.
4. Offer valid for only new Joint, Individual, or Custodial accounts. Offer doesn’t apply for IRA and Education Savings Account, bummer!
5. Limit one bonus per unique customer or unique custodial account.
6. Offer ends 5/31/09. First stock purchase must be made by 7/31/09.

If you’ve been looking  for a simple-to-use brokerage account to do automatic investing and dollar cost averaging with,  ShareBuilder can be a good consideration as their low $4 per trade cost  for automatic investing isn’t too bad for some stocks and exchange traded funds — but only if you buy in large chunks as $4 per trade can easily add up.

ShareBuilder is also an okay starter account for those that have limited fund but are interested in starting an Individual Retirement Account or an Education Savings Account, as they offer no cost, no load mutual funds from ING.  The ING mutual funds also offers a low initial investment minimum of $250 for IRA and ESA’s, compare with $1,000 to $3,000 for select funds at Fidelity or Vanguard.  Take note however that some of the fund’s expense ratio is slightly more expensive at around the 1.0% ranges.

A ShareBuilder account is perfect for those that fit into the above scenarios, and the current Costco promotion bonus can definitely be an icing on the cake for those opening a non-IRA/ESA account.

A recent instant message from my younger cousin pointed me towards the deliciously funny website: fmylife.com, which basically contains various stories and tidbits about how much one’s life sucks.

For example, here’s the top rated FML (f– my life):

Today, I received my passport in the mail. They got my birth date wrong. Then I picked up my birth certificate that I had sent in with the application. Turns out my parents have been celebrating my birthday on the wrong day for 16 years. FML

As with many websites geared towards sinking time,  fmylife.com can often be a funny yet sad read.  The reason why I pointed out this website was not to spread further misery, but to acknowledge the fact that, sometimes, life can throw a sucker punch in your face, and there’s not much you can do about it.

Occasionally you may have events in life that may be overwhelming you.  Add those life situations to the mounting debt, to the struggling cash flow, to the seemingly unmanageable financial accounts and you’ll have a good reason to turn a blind eye to financial meltdowns that may be occurring around you.

Although at times you may not be able to do much about certain happenings in your life, your personal finance doesn’t have to be the same way.   Many times, your personal finance is something you can affect and manage.

So what steps should you take to gain command over your personal finance?  What can you do to make sure your finance isn’t contributing to the suckage?

The answer, unfortunately, varies depending on your life situation.  Yes, it would have been sweet to be able to find a one-size-fit-all financial solution at the end of this post, but if you couldn’t tell from the horrendous writing, you’re reading a C-list personal finance blog.

Instead of mouthing off financial advice that may not pertain to your situation and face possible litigation on making your life worse, here are some decent personal finance books that I recommend, depending on your life situation:

• If you’re young, clueless about financial basics and still thinks a T-shirt in exchange for a credit card is a swell deal, consider I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.
• If you feel that you’re too busy to deal with all the financial jargon but still want to build a solid foundation for your financial life, check out Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People by Jane Bryant Quinn.
• If you’re looking for simplicity in your life and feel that you need to find a sensible balance to your finances, try Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin.
• If you’re knee deep in debt, don’t see an end in sight and feel that some drastic financial changes may be in order, look into The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

It was about three o’ clock in the afternoon when I heard it.  The sounds of tires screeching on pavement accompanied by a blaring popping noise that sounded like an extremely loud car engine backfiring.  I crawled up to my bedroom window, peeked out through the curtains and saw a car doing an extremely dangerously U-turn with a passenger literally riding “shotgun.”  As the passenger held a shotgun in one hand and leaned out the passenger window, the car semi-lost control and rammed into the “Welcome to Santa Ana”  city sign.  Eventually, the car regain control and immediately sped off down the street.

I was about fourteen years-old, and it was at that moment that I realized that I’m living in a not-so-safe neighborhood.  Drive-by shootings were not exactly an oddity in the area,  but seeing it in person in the afternoon instead of hearing it at the wee hours during the night was definitely a game changer.

Within years, my family and I moved to a nicer neighborhood.  The crime rate was lower, the sounds of late-night drive-bys was almost non-existent, and the ironic thing was that the new house is only a five minute drive away from the old one.

Whenever I tell the above story to people, the reaction is either wide-eye horror mixed with jaws dropping or the responses will be something along the lines of “Oh yeah? Well this place I lived at…”

Throughout my life, I’ve always lived in middle-class neighborhoods.  The neighborhood mentioned above was lower-middle class.  It was far from being the slums, but it wasn’t exactly Beverly Hills either.   Despite the occasional drive-bys, we never did felt that our lives were in real danger.   You practice common sense, don’t attract attention to yourself at odd places, and you mind your own business when you’re suppose to.

Even now, I still don’t feel that the neighborhood was a complete crap-shack, but if someone was to ask me about the worst place I’ve lived in, then this neighborhood would definitely be on top of the list.

What’s the worst neighborhood you’ve lived in?  What circumstances, if any, put you and your family there?

photo credit: thechannelc